Past wonders give first-leg losers hope

First-leg losses leave Chelsea FC, FC Internazionale Milano, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Tottenham Hotspur FC on the ropes in their UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, but while things seem grim, there is still hope as this look through the history books shows.

Chelsea FC 0-1 Manchester United FCWayne Rooney's solitary goal at Stamford Bridge means Carlo Ancelotti's side need a statistically improbable away victory to go through. Only two teams have recovered from a first-leg home defeat to win a tie in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Under Louis van Gaal, holders AFC Ajax fell 1-0 at home to Panathinaikos FC in the 1995/96 semi-finals, yet two goals from Jari Litmanen and a third for Nordin Wooter helped them reach the final with a 3-0 second-leg success. Van Gaal said of his weary outfit: "If you charge the batteries enough, you cannot tell they are weak."

Leixões SC lost 6-2 at FC La Chaux-de-Fonds in the 1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round but took the tie with a 5-0 home success in Portugal. FK Partizan also went down 6-2 at Queens Park Rangers FC in their 1984/85 UEFA Cup second round first leg, before prevailing on away goals with a 4-0 victory in Belgrade.

Real Madrid CF, meanwhile, fell 5-1 to a VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach outfit led by their future coach Jupp Heynckes in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup third round. Nonetheless, they won 4-0 at home to progress and proceeded to lift the trophy under Luis Molowny, beating 1. FC Köln in the two-legged final.

Real Madrid CF 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur FCIf Leixões, Partizan and Madrid all redeemed themselves after four-goal first-leg drubbings, Tottenham have also been 4-0 down and gone on to edge a tie – in their first, and only previous, season in Europe's top competition.

In their opening 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round match at Górnik Zabrze, Bill Nicholson's men were four down just after the break, but rallied with two strikes in the last 20 minutes. They made amends in style with an 8-1 victory at White Hart Lane.

"We were a very good side and we knew it," remembered Nicholson. "What we did not know was how to play in Europe." He added: "We had to learn how to eradicate other teams' strengths. Górnik did it to perfection and, but for our ability to play outstanding football, we would have been out."

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